Australian PM Scott Morrison will ‘stand up for’ Yang Hengjun, arrested in China on espionage charges

Yang, a former Chinese diplomat turned online journalist and blogger, was last week formally arrested by Chinese authorities

His arrest coincides with diplomatic tension between Canberra and Beijing, including accusations of Chinese meddling in domestic political affairs

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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Photo: AP

Published: 9:13am, 29 Aug 2019Updated: 10:31am, 29 Aug 2019

Australia is concerned about the treatment of a Chinese-born Australian writer arrested in China on suspicion of espionage and will support his rights despite being told by Beijing not to interfere, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.

Yang Hengjun, a former Chinese diplomat turned online journalist and blogger, was last week formally arrested by Chinese authorities, seven months after he was detained in the country.

“We’ll stand up for our citizen and we’ll expect him to be treated appropriately and his human rights to be respected,” Morrison told Channel 9, saying suggestions that Yang was a spy for Australia were “absolutely untrue”.

“We make no apologies for standing up for one of our citizens,” Morrison said.

Australian writer Yang Hengjun. Photo: Reuters

His intervention came after Yang – potentially facing the death penalty – thanked supporters for their assistance and said he was indebted to the Australian embassy for continuing to visit him and advocate on his behalf.